Drowning in These Tears
by RosieCheeks101
Summary: Deals with Percy after Annabeth dies (read to find out how it happened). Character death, Duh!
1. Prologue

**_Chapter 1: Prologue_**

Annabeth Jackson was a successful 27yr old budding Architect, she did have to take time off from her career at the age of 25 to give birth to twins but had since gone back to work. She and Percy had had trouble choosing first names for the twins but in the end settled on Clara and Harry, middle names were easier, they were named after the two members of the seven who hadn't survived against Gaea, Hazel and Jason.

Her life came to a sad and early end when she went for a swim at the beach by their family home, hit her head on a rock and drowned. When Percy got home he could tell something was off because she wasn't in the house so he went down to the beach where he found her clothes in a pile with her CHB necklace on top, he called the police who alerted the coast guard before jumping in to try to find her. He didn't but the coast guard did, a little ways away from the house.

That was the day Percy Jackson developed a hatred for the water and Poseidon.

**A/N: read and review**


	2. Breaking The News

Chapter 2: breaking the news

_**Mr. Chase**_

Percy found it difficult to talk to Mr. Chase and he always had, what he was about to tell him made it all the worse.

"Um, Mr. Chase, can I meet with you?" Percy asked over the phone, it didn't feel right telling him over the phone.

-Later-

"She...d-drowned," Percy told Annabeth's father through tears while looking down at the twins in their stroller, so blissfully unaware, he had explained that she had died but this was the hardest part for him, admitting that she had died in the sea, a place he was meant to feel comfortable in, a place he was meant to be able to control, and some part of him blamed himself, if he had been there...

Mr. Chase simply sat there, as if waiting for Annabeth to pop up out of a bush and reveal it was a hoax, but finally he broke down as well.

"The last thing she said to me was 'I hate you'," he admitted, they had been arguing about some trivial thing and she had said that and hung up. Percy didn't know what to say so he just sat there, tears in his eyes.

**_Sally_**

Sally knew before Percy told her, he didn't know how she knew but she showed up at his house with a blue cake the day it happened. His eyes were red and puffy and he had just gotten back from the park with Mr. Chase. He didn't know or care how she heard although he had a strong feeling Poseidon had told her. The moment he answered the door she pulled him into a hug and he cried into her shoulder for a minute until the blue cake digging in to his back became to uncomfortable. Sally came in and played with Clara and Harry for hours while talking to Percy, eating blue cake and looking through photo albums.

**_Athena_**

He went to Athena the day after Annabeth died. He purposefully avoided Poseidon, he wasn't ready for that. He explained to her that she had drowned while he was out and by the end of it he was in tears as he had been with Mr. Chase. He told her how he blamed himself and understood why she hated him. Then Athena did something completely unexpected, she hugged him, she held on to him as his mother had the day before and cried into her shoulder for at least an hour.

She said with a sad smile, "You know what Percy, you always were my favourite son-in-law."

**_Poseidon_**

Percy put off going to see Poseidon for three days, he knew he would already know but he felt it was his responsibility to go see him. When he went to Olympus he put up every defence and was cold as he told Poseidon, Percy blamed him, she had died in his domain, under his watch, so Percy blamed him. Poseidon tried to console him but he just pushed the god away.


	3. The Funeral

**Chapter 3: the funeral**

A week after Annabeth died was the funeral, everyone came, Chiron, Leo, Piper, Frank, Sally, Thalia, Calypso (Percy didn't know exactly why Leo's arm was wrapped around her shoulders protectively), Mr. Chase, his wife and their kids, even Mr. D came, along with a bunch of extended family, perhaps the biggest surprise was Nico, Percy hadn't seen Nico in nearly ten years, ever since Hazel had died, he blamed Percy as he had been fighting with her when it happened, Percy never expected to see him here, he didn't even know how Nico had found out. Nico didn't talk to anyone but Percy felt peace in seeing him there.

During the ceremony Percy fiddled with Annabeth's CHB necklace, which he had started wearing as a way to remember her. His eyes stung during the speeches but he couldn't help but crack a smile during Leo and Mr. Chase's. He managed to hold the tears in for sometime. It was the video of photos and clips that got to him, seeing pictures like the one of them at 18, after the war, smiling and grinning outside their first house, of her holding little Harry and Percy holding Clara the day they were born, Annabeth on her father's doorstep in her cradle (turned out he had pulled out his camera to remember the moment, contrary to what Annabeth had believed), and finally, she and Percy exchanging vows.

After the ceremony Percy went to speak to Nico while Leo looked after the kids. Nico was reluctant to tell Percy how he had found out about Annabeth. Finally he got sick of Percy asking him, turned around and mumbled "I've been speaking to her" before shadow travelling away.


	4. Piper, Frank and Leo visit

**_Chapter 4: Leo, Frank and Piper visit_**

**A/N; this is a slightly funner chapter, I think, so yeah, Leo, Frank and Piper visit Percy. Also, I haven't read the HoO series so sorry if Pipes, Leo or Frank are OOC. Let's say age changed them if they are.**

"So Leo, any girls finally looked past your strangely elfish features, lack of a sense of humour and height fit for a five year old and decided to go on a date with you?" Piper teased Leo as they sat around the coffee table in the living room, there was a space next to Percy but nobody said anything about it, that had been Annabeth's seat.

Leo went red from this comment and choked on his blue cookie (they were at Percy's, of course it was blue) "'Course not, why would you say that?" Leo asked in a voice higher and faster then his normal voice, as if he were a little kid who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Oh come on, Valdez she was kidding, hang on, there is a girl isn't there?!" Percy asked with a grin, "wait, is it Calypso? I saw you with your arm around her at Annabeth's...you know what," everybody went quiet as if in an unofficial moment of silence for Annabeth. As quickly as it had begun it ended and they were all staring at Leo waiting for his answer.

"Geez, peer-pressure much? And no, it's not Calypso! Okay? We are just friends, I mean, we tried but it, it didn't work out with us," Leo said defeated.

"So you admit it, there is a girl," Piper grinned relentlessly.

"I never said that...I'll admit there is someone but...but I never said it was a girl," Leo said nervously, obviously uncomfortable with the situation.

Frank, seeing Leo's discomfort, decided to speak up, "I had a date!" this, as Frank had hoped, snapped Piper out of her thoughts, which involved staring at Leo with her mouth hanging open in shock.

"What, when, who, how, WHAT?!" was Piper's reply, "do we know her? What's she look like? What's her name?" All these came out at a million miles an hour.

"You don't know her, she has green eyes and straight blonde hair, her name is Jem," Frank said calmly, over the years he and the others had grown accustomed to Piper's babble when it came to romance. Although Piper herself wasn't very romantic she was a daughter of Aphrodite at heart.

"Okay, now that we know about Frank's date, back to you Leo," with this she spun around to face Leo again as both Leo and Frank cringed, "YOU! I've got no problem with you being gay-" "I'm not gay" "-but you could tell me! I've always wanted a gay best friend-" "bi" "-and now I have one! But that is not going to distract me, why didn't you tell me? Never mind, who is he, do we know him?!"

"Um, you do know him, but I am so not telling you who it is, and anyways, technically, we're not dating, I'm still working up the courage to ask him."

"Oh c'mon, I am not letting up till you tell me who your mystery guy is!" Piper said in the same million miles an hour chatter and Leo sighed, knowing once Piper got an idea in her head she wouldn't let it go.

"Fine, it's, um, N-n-" Leo stumbled through his words knowing that everyone would freak when he told them, "Nico!"

Everyone sat and stared at him, until finally Frank spoke up, "When did you get back in touch with him?"

"Couple of years ago, and well, we have more in common then one might realise," this confused everyone to no end, Leo Valdez and Nico Di Angelo having something in common, impossible! Percy meanwhile sat staring at the wall and wondering why, after ten years, that boy had chosen this time to pop back in to his life.

**A/N: That's right, Valdengelo is in da house! Okay I'm never saying that again. But seriously, no hate for it, I like them together and it's my story, don't like don't read, it's that simple.**


	5. How Nico Found Out

_**Chapter 5: How Nico Found Out**_

Leo was a blubbering mess on the floor as he jabbed in the phone number that he had memorised well over five years ago.

"Nico, Annabeth, she-she's d-d-dea-," Leo stammered and before he could finish the sentence the shadows formed the shape of one Nico di Angelo.

"Shhh, I know, I know," Nico didn't bother with any 'it'll be alright' bull, both of them had lived through enough crap to know it wasn't true. Instead he lightly kissed Leo on the forehead, "And it sucks, I know that too, okay?"

Leo managed a weak nod and croaked out, "is she, is she in Elysium?"

"Of course she is Valdez, she saved the world...twice," Nico smirked and kissed Leo, on the lips this time. Leo sighed, knowing that this was all their relationship would ever be, which just made the tears fall heavier. He wanted more, he wanted a proper relationship with the younger demigod. But that was an unreachable dream, Nico didn't want that, and Leo was all too aware.

Leo remembered the first time...this, happened. It was the 15 year anniversary of Esperanza Valdez's death. Nico had shown up at Leo's to find him on the floor with a knife in hand, staring at his wrist. The son of Hades had quickly confiscated the knife and lifted the older demigod into his lap, and Leo had curled up into a foetal position. It surprised Leo slightly when Nico kissed him on the forehead softly but he didn't protest. And then later, when Nico had gone through Leo's drawers, pulled out every sharp object, and shoved it into a bag (which, to Leo's dismay, Nico took with him) Leo didn't complain about the short kiss on the lips before Nico shadow-travelled away. The firebug desperately wanted to confront him about it, but something in the others eyes stopped him. A silent pleading.

The next time it had happened, was Percy and Annabeth's wedding, this time it was Nico in tears on the floor, and it was Leo who comforted him. He hugged the small boy to his chest and rocked him back and forth. At one point he took Neek's hand and kissed the scars along his wrists, much older then some of Leo's own, one at a time, while he whispered things in Spanish he knew that Nico, thank the gods, wouldn't understand him. That had become another 'thing' of theirs, speaking in other languages to each other.

Nico had noticed that Leo had zoned out and was now trying to snap him out of it, "Leo. Hey. Leo. Look. At. Me," each word was punctuated with a kiss to the lips, this seemed to snap Leo out of his daze, though if it were the words or the kisses Nico wasn't sure.

"Hm, oh sorry, I was just...somewhere else," Leo said quickly wiping the tears from his eyes, which didn't help in the slightest, the tears were just replaced with more, "Estoy bien, cariño, estoy bien." **(A/N: I don't know anyone who speaks Spanish and my school only offers French so I'm relying on Google Translate here).**

Nico wasn't convinced and was about to pursue the topic when he glanced up at the clock and saw that it was 10:00am, and he had to be at work by 11:00. Nico was a waiter at a restaurant at the moment, though he wanted to be a chef, carefully, he lifted the now sleeping form of Leo Valdez off of his lap, scribbled a quick note in Italian, thankful Leo didn't understand it, and shadow-travelled away.

_Caro Leo, mio dolce,_

_Ho dovuto andare a lavorare, mi dispiace, ma non posso essere di nuovo in ritardo._

_Amare, Nico, quello che così spesso sogna di voi ancora non si può avere nella terra dei viventi_

_XOXO_

**(Rough English translations (according to google translate):**

**Estoy bien, cariño, Estoy bienI'm fine, darling, I'm fine**

**Nico's Letter (I'm not writing it out again)Dear Leo, my sweet, **

**I had to go to work, I'm sorry, but I can not be late again **

**Love, Nico, the one who dreams of you Often yet can not have you in the land of the living XOXO)**


End file.
